We left Boise this morning and continued on our westward journey. We crossed over into Oregon, and within minutes we began winding through beautiful green hills contrasting with bright red rock. Luckily we had plenty of gas and didn't need to go to the bathroom because we were completely on our own for two or three hours. We stopped in the town of Burns and had lunch at an adorable little cafe, and sat next to the funniest old british couple that purchased two bottles of wine in the wine shop connected to the cafe while they ate their chicken salad sandwiches. It is so funny to us that everyone we meet out here is just as fascinated by us New Yorkers as we are of them. The two ladies that worked at the cafe were super friendly and we chatted about our journey, her son, and the diversity of our country. It was fantastic.
After lunch, we took a thirty mile detour south to check out a wildlife refuge that boasted of some fantastic bird watching. We drove the half hour down the main road to a posted bird lookout over a very large marsh area where we saw many different varieties of water foul. There was a map posted that showed a long gravel road that ran along the marsh, but eventually brought us back up to Route 20 to continue us on towards Bend. We decided to take that road, but when we got to it we saw a sign on the right side that said "Road Closed." We deliberated, and decided that it was probably for the winter season, since the twenty yards of road we could see looked fine. Ten slow, bumpy miles down the road, we realized that the sign had not just been a friendly suggestion, but the road was actually closed, and for good reason. Long story short, Elijah ended up pushing the car out of a little stream that happened to cut through the road into the lake. Whoops. (don't freak out mom, the car is fine, I promise) But on the upside, we saw some really cool birds in that ten miles. So we turned around and drove back, afraid to find a policeman waiting for us at the entrance to the closed road. Once back on the main road, we stopped for some more bird watching, including my favorite sighting of the day, the white pelican, and finally got on our way to Bend.
When we got to Bend, we stumbled upon the Rainbow Inn (yes, I'm serious) for a ridiculous $45 per night. (Yes, I'm REALLY serious!) We went out for a great Thai dinner, and are super excited to finally reach California tomorrow. The sunburn on my nose from Yellowstone has finally reached its peak pealing stage, guaranteeing me instant shoobie status the moment we cross the border tomorrow. I might as well complete the outfit with socks, sneakers, my giant tourist camera, and a bagged lunch on the beach. Oh well.
Tomorrow night we'll be in Crescent City, and it will be our last night in a motel before we start camping our way down the coast in various Redwood National and State Parks. As usual, we will blog whenever we can. Below are some pictures from yesterday and today.
Talk to you soon,
Laura
Giant Potato!
White Pelicans
Sorry mommm
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